Tropical Storm Shanshan has heavily disrupted traffic across much of Japan. Rail, airline and expressway operators are calling on people to check their websites for the latest information.
Central Japan Railway Company has announced that all services on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line will be suspended between Tokyo Station and Shin-Osaka Station from the first train on Friday morning due to heavy rain.
The company says services will be suspended between Mishima and Nagoya throughout Friday. It also says that if operations become available outside the section, services between Tokyo and Mishima and between Nagoya and Shin-Osaka will be greatly reduced, with only about two Kodama local trains per hour scheduled for those sections. No through services to the Sanyo Shinkansen will be available.
The company said Tokaido Shinkansen services could also face suspensions or delays from Saturday through Monday.
Sanyo Shinkansen services will be suspended between Hiroshima and Hakata throughout Friday. Operations between Shin-Osaka and Hiroshima will be sharply reduced, with no through services to Tokaido Shinkansen trains.
Sanyo Shinkansen services could also be suspended between Shin-Osaka and Hakata on Saturday.
Kyushu Shinkansen operations will be suspended all day on Friday.
Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen services will be suspended from early Friday, but might be resumed with limited operations if safety can be confirmed.
Airlines have canceled many flights to and from airports in the western regions of Kyushu, Chugoku and Shikoku.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways canceled 287 and 346 domestic flights respectively, which had been scheduled for Friday. Other carriers, such as JetStar Japan, Skymark Airlines, Solaseed Air, also announced cancellations.
All Nippon Airways decided to cancel 33 flights planned for Saturday.
West Nippon Expressway Company said that expressways in Kyushu were partially or entirely closed as of 1 a.m. on Friday.
Central Nippon Expressway Company said that some sections of expressways in central Japan remained closed as of early Friday.